Kuwait ranks ‘worst for expats’; Bahrain remains the best

KUWAIT: According to a recent poll by Expat Insider, Kuwait is the worst country to work in for an expat. The poll takes into consideration factors such as quality of life, ease of settling in and overall general satisfaction. Kuwait was placed 68th, a position it held from 2014-2016, and came second last in 2017. Kuwait is also in the bottom five of the Working Abroad and Family Life Indices, with a slightly better, albeit below-average, result for personal finance (50th).

Two factors that both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had difficulty with were in the Friendliness and Finding Friends Indices coming dead last in both. Almost two-thirds of respondents in Kuwait said that making friends was difficult, while 44% are not satisfied with the opportunities to make new friends in general. Respondents in Saudi Arabia faced similar such issues but fared slightly better in comparison.

In all the Gulf States, finances were among the most important factors to move there. Kuwait performed better under these categories (coming in 50th). UAE ranked worst in the Gulf in the Personal Finance Index with many claiming their basic salary insufficient to sustain daily living. The gap between the better performing countries and the region’s poorest performers remains large.

There is clear dissatisfaction among expats in the Gulf States regarding their working life, though. Qatar (35th), Oman (39th), and the UAE (46th) all perform below average, with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia once more at the back of the pack in 64th and 66th place, respectively. Over a third of respondents in Saudi Arabia (35%) are dissatisfied with their jobs while Kuwait (46%) also falls below the global average of 65%.

This year’s poll introduced a new Digital Life subcategory and the results among the Gulf countries vary even further here. Qatar and UAE are the most digitally connected countries in the region with Kuwait faring poorly for availability of administrative/government services online. Kuwait has the lowest availability of such services out of the GCC States, with 48% negative ratings.

Bahrain was ranked among the top countries for the second year running. Many respondents of the tiny Gulf nation gave their working hours, job security and overall job satisfaction the best possible rating. Bahrain has also maintained or improved its ranking across all other subcategories.

Safety & Security is undoubtedly the Gulf States’ strongest subcategory. The UAE (9th) and Oman (10th) both rank in the top 10 with an impressive 61% of expats in Oman give the political stability the best possible rating, while an almost unrivaled 94% of respondents attest to the peacefulness of the country. These results stand out against the respective global averages of 30% and 78%. Similarly to Oman, expats in the UAE rate the political stability very highly (10th), but the UAE stands out particularly for personal safety, with 97% of expats feeling safe.